A couple days have passed now, and I think I can more objectively give an opinion about our experience in Columbia, SC.

Highs

* I love that USC fans love their team and football.

My biggest gripe about the B12 was how apathetic other schools are when their team stumbles or has a mediocre season. I feel that for the most part, remaining B12 schools are only fair weather fans sticking around during the good times, and bailing during the tough times (save Iowa St...those poor guys seem to really hang around).

We were just nearing Augusta and stopped to get gas. The clerk saw my hat, and said, "you guys should git back to Texas...". That is awesome!

* Campus is very nice.

We parked at the fair grounds and walked to the Russell Center. There were a lot of food options, and this is something I think A&M should improve as well. USC and LSU both have lots of options in their student center. We walked around outside to check out the scenery and strolled through some central shaded pavilion. I don't recall the name, but it was very scenic.

* Columbia is a good size town and there seems to be plenty of places to eat and drink.

Previously I looked up stats and said CS was nearly as big as Columbia. Maybe this is true due to the size of A&M the student body, but Columbia, SC feels far more substantial. You guys have an actual downtown with big businesses. A&M is not like that at all. Our stuff is spread out all over, and comes off as a town that was built up around the college. This still may be true for USC, but downtown and college go hand-in-hand. We had some sandwiches at Southern Belly BBQ near the fairgrounds, and it was awesome. Texas, for the most part, does really simple brisket or pork sandwiches. The D'Jango at Southern Belly had pork, bacon, jalapenos, spicy relish....it was just pure awesomeness.

* The folks that came out to see midnight yell were mostly inquisitive and just wanted to see what was going on. I appreciate people wanting to see the visiting team's traditions, even if it isn't a pep-rally for USC.

* Williams Brice

The HD screen is awesome

Lows

*Midnight Yell opposition

I'm perfectly fine with people coming (students really....) and yelling against us or razzing us. Arkansas did it and kept doing their pig call. It was all in good fun. However, I think the students crossed the line when they started chanting, "f*ck those aggies! f*ck those aggies!". I know adults don't really control what they do, but I expected better of the students. It really just comes off low-class and most Aggies thought the same.

*Class

Twice while we were walking around campus, my wife and I heard students riding in their cars or back of their trucks yell "f*ck you Aggies!" or "Suck our Cocks!". Again, it just shows how low class some of the students are. I know bad apples are in every group of students (including A&M), but I was really surprised by how many people we spoke with that had similar stories when walking around the town. We didn't even get that treatment from LSU fans.

*Gameday & Williams Brice

I didn't know anything about WB before coming to the game, but USC fans painted this incredible picture of how raucous and loud it was going to be. Your sound system is loud. That is it. The fans do not know how to really get into the game. I said this before, but it was sort of funny to listen to the fans attempt to get a "game" "cocks" chant going without help from the cheerleaders. Frankly, the cheerleaders should have been doing that more often, and they didn't. This is why we have yell leaders, and even when our yell leaders fail to step up, we've got a guy (Visor Guy...I'm not kidding) to lead us. I know the air got sucked out pretty quickly when USC was playing from behind from the get-go. Plus, it was a Thursday game, so it may have something to do with that too. All I'm saying is that a lot of hype was generated and y'all failed to deliver big time. LSU, Mizzou, A&M, and Arkansas were all louder than WB. Only Ole Miss might be below USC.

The tailgating scene left a lot to be desired. There was very little tail gating among campus itself, and this makes sense because the stadium is far away. That being said, it doesn't feel the same when you've got a disconnect between the campus and stadium tailgating. However, the fairgrounds do provide a very large and open area, so logistically it works out well.

The concessions at WB suck. They remind me of what A&M offered 5-10 yrs ago. They need to go to electronic point of sale systems and actually bring in higher quality items...burgers, chick-fil-a, etc.

Summary: Like the town, the campus, the love of football. However, USC students came off rude, USC alumn come off incredibly Cocky (go figure...) and gave A&M absolutely no respect. I thought we'd possibly win a close game by maybe 3 points. Delivering that epic beat down at WB and breaking your 18 game home winning streak was well deserved after hearing so much garbage come from the USC side. You guys will get a chance to give us some payback next year, but I think our defense will be improved and we'll curb stomp you again.